Sorting capsules in microfluidic devices

Abstract

In recent years, microfluidic systems have underpinned a wealth of biotechnology applications and proposed solutions for complex problems, including the sorting and enrichment of deformable particle suspensions. Motivated by such applications of microfluidic systems, Lu et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 923, 2021, A11) present a three-dimensional computational study of a train of deformable capsules flowing through a branched microchannel. Insights into the intricacies of the underlying complex fluid–structure interactions between the suspended capsules and the surrounding fluid can inform experimental scenarios whereby strong capsule interactions are avoided, facilitating precise operating control of microfluidic devices for sorting and enrichment.